It wasn’t to be. A first Olympic medal in football has proven to be just out of reach for the Matildas after they went down 4-3 to the USA.
Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, and Emily Gielnik’s goals came up just short against doubles to Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd.
For the United States, it is a first-ever bronze to add to their collection of four golds and a silver. The reigning world champions finally put together a performance that looked more like the US Women’s National Team.
ROAR_EMBED|https://twitter.com/7olympics/status/1423223583493566466|
For the Matildas, fourth is their best ever result at an Olympics. A feat which equals the fourth place finish recorded by the men’s Olyroos at Barcelona 1992.
This match saw a team that was able to rotate its squad finally hit its straps against a team that was running on pure adrenaline at times produce errors and goals in almost equal measure.
This tournament has shown Matildas’ fans all the team’s flaws and all the team’s potential in ultrahigh definition and kaleidoscopic colour.
The negatives shown in this tournament have been well known and discussed at length for years; nothing new has been learnt in that space.
The team needs centre backs, ideally with a bit of speed. Laura Brock’s retirement has reduced the centre half stocks even further.
Australia is blessed with a squad that can play many positions. Unfortunately, in a tournament as fast and furious as the Olympics, that kind of depth is less helpful than multiple players vying for one position. This was exposed most acutely with Ellie Carpenter’s absence following her red card.
ROAR_EMBED|https://twitter.com/7olympics/status/1423219909291651074|
But the depth problem is not one solved overnight and certainly not mid-tournament. But steps are being taken to blood new players and create that depth. In 2021 alone, the Matildas have had seven debutants – the most newbies in almost a decade. Young players not only made the Olympic squad but played their role.
Teagan Micah played five of six games in goal. Mary Fowler proved to be a difference maker every time she entered the fray and impressed when running out the full game. Kyra Cooney-Cross showed defensive strength and good passing in her patches of play. And even Courtney Nevin got some minutes in this bronze medal match.
When the Matildas were on in this tournament, they were magnificent. Sam Kerr was electric and prolific, overtaking Lisa De Vanna to become the team’s all-time leading scorer.
Steph Catley was allowed to attack as the left wing back and went on to create the most chances of any player this tournament. She also proved to be influential from the set piece.
Tameka Yallop’s running and work rate was utilised both centrally and out wide. When asked to defend she did just that and when allowed forward she created havoc, scoring the Matildas first goal.
Carpenter – barring her red card – was arguably Australia’s best player all tournament. Kyah Simon, after struggling with injury in the lead up, played an invaluable role up top.
Before this tournament and before the pandemic – barring the Olympic qualifying tournament – it had felt like this team had become a bit stagnant.
It hadn’t regressed, it was just stuck. The rest of the world continued to move forward. Things weren’t helped when the pandemic stopped the team from playing for over a year. They then had to adapt to a new coach.
In a small amount of time, Australia has rediscovered a spark. Tony Gustavsson has simply helped bring out what has always been there and reinforced it with a belief that is infectious.
This belief will only continue to grow. The team will only continue to get better. The mistakes will be learnt from. New players will emerge and depth will be created.
Come 2023, the Matildas will be better for the experience had at these Olympics.
Nuxman
Roar Rookie
Lots of issues with the team but if they are to improve they must sort out the culture!!!
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Good analysis :thumbup:
jupiter53
Roar Pro
Fair enough. I think I remember that some sports [rowing?] have gone out looking for people in their teens who might have the physiology to be good at their sport, and that has been successful in identifying talent who have succeeded. That would not apply to football. Football players need to have learnt ball skills from childhood. It has been possible for W league players to play WAFL - Ellie Brush, Jenna McCormick - but it would not be possible to make the transition the other way. So football needs parents who nurture their kids into the game from the cradle.
Maxis Pastit
Roar Rookie
I think you are both missing the point. When I said athletic talent I was using it more generically and just not talking about people who run fast. It is about making the most of the population you have available to you and nurturing it from a young age. Australia has a lot of choice for young people and what I am suggesting is that football is not always getting the people who have the most potential and would make good footballers because they are choosing other sports.
jupiter53
Roar Pro
I share your painful despair about Van Egmond, and agree she is not close to KK, let alone half as effective as was the wonderful Collette McCallum. I have to hope that someone else will be found in the next 2 years to replace her in deep midfield. However, I am not yet ready to damn Gustavsson, given the relatively short time and small number of competitive games he has had with the team. I wonder whether he could really know about the players until he saw how they coped with competitive pressure. I agree that 3 at the back was pretty poor in practice much of the time. In addition to your well expressed criticism, there was a failure to sort out whether it was the lateral centre back or the wingback who was responsible for the opposition winger. I think it is a difficult system to get right; it easily ends up as 5 at the back when the wingbacks have dropped into defence, and then the midfield bank of defenders is short of numbers. Good defensive teams generally seem to run with 2 well organised banks of 4. Also with 5 at the back, it is hard to get enough players forward to transition into attack. In every game there were passages of controlled buildup through midfield. That made the predominance of inaccurate long balls even harder to bear. At least there were goals. That means that if the midfield and defence can be better sorted out, then the Matildas should be able to score enough to be competitive in 2023 [as long as Kerr stays fit!].
jupiter53
Roar Pro
Totally agree. A great football player needs to have some degree of athleticism, but it is not essential to be a tremendous athlete. What is essential is ball control. If you have great control then you can move the ball away from all those fiercely athletic players and watch them rush pointlessly past you. The great Argentinian strolling playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme was the classic example of this. Of course it is even better if you have magic touch AND athleticism, like the even greater Argentinian Lionel Messi!
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
Athletic talent is meaningless in football unless it accompanied by playing since a young age, and even then you still need something more to succeed. Gemili the British athlete was a failure in football despite being at Chelsea since the age of 8 . Its more competitive in mens than womens , but even in womens you need to start fairly early. Kerr was a great athlete in her younger days but started in her early teens was a late developer . The sport where athleticism is a direct ticket to success is womens rugby sevens, but they are very lowly paid and you get the impression Rugby Australia has milked the Olympic program.
Maxis Pastit
Roar Rookie
I often wonder whether the best footballers, with a few exceptions, in Australia don't actually play football. When you see the athletic talent that is playing different sports and is also visible at these Olympics how can the Matildas ever really compete until they can harness the best talent. Maybe future success will breed success.
Munro Mike
Roar Rookie
went 1 handed trying to swat it away.
James
Roar Rookie
First goal was staggering! I thought the goalkeeper was supposed to watch the ball and catch it if she can. Aussies gifted goals to the opposition.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
At the end of the day they are ranked 9th in the world and came 4th in a major tournament That in itself is a positive Add to that the young kids coming through and there is reason to be optimistic about the future
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The team first needs a proper coach. What the team doesn't need is center backs, they need to have less of them, dont play 3 at the back and try to play out when the center backs are so bad at playing the ball out, dont play the offside trap when they are so slow without Ellie Carpenter who was their rescuer in previous games. When you have three at the back generally they have to better on the ball and able to make runs forward, by staying in one line they make it possible for two players to press them easily or even one. If one went forward put the front players behind them then a further back opposition player has to move to cover them and then that opens up plays. They seem to be convinced that Van Egmond is Pirlo, she is not even close to Kellod Knight, she has no ability to defend, so they need a back three behind her, her other midfield partner gets tired out because more pressing, Van Egmond rarely goes forward in attack, and the amazing thing considering all those other negative aspects is her passing is no good anyway . The back three they seem to be convinced they dont need to go foward because van Egmond is there they play the ball to her and it usually ends either coming back to them under even more pressure, or she passes it forward usually to no one, or she gets it stolen off her. Their playing out from the back was heart attack material even in the NZ match in this match it received new heights. What the Matildas are good at is goal scoring, that they were inches away from 4-4 , this coach seems to vary from the Milicic madness of always playing out from the back and excessive high lines, to hitting everything , 5 even 6 at the back , offside blockers, and other unusual stuff. Its like an all sort assorment not from the lolly shop but what you get from a garbage bin.